Shiba Inu to Close 2025 With No Gains Amid Massive 66.2% Plunge

BitMine, the largest corporate holder of Ethereum, has begun staking part of its $12 billion ETH treasury.

On December 27, on-chain analyst Ember CN reported that the firm deposited approximately 74,880 ETH, valued at about $219 million, into Ethereum staking contracts.

Why is BitMine Staking Its Holdings?

The move represents only a small slice of BitMine’s total holdings of roughly 4.07 million ETH, currently valued near $12 billion.

Still, it signals a meaningful shift in how the company intends to manage its balance sheet.

If the company were to stake its entire treasury at the current estimated annual percentage yield (APY) of 3.12%, it would generate approximately 126,800 ETH annually. At current prices, this equates to $371 million in yearly revenue.

Such a structure would effectively recast BitMine as a yield-bearing vehicle tied to Ethereum’s consensus layer. This means its valuation would no longer hinge primarily on the asset’s directional price movements.

ETH Staking Goals and Risks

However, the strategy introduces new financial and operational risks for the company.

Unlike Bitcoin held in cold storage, which can be liquidated immediately in stressed market conditions, staked Ether is constrained by protocol-level withdrawal mechanics.

Validators exiting the network must pass through an exit queue, which can delay access to capital during periods of heightened volatility.

In a liquidity crunch, that delay could leave BitMine exposed to price swings that a non-staking treasury might otherwise avoid.

This tradeoff underscores a structural difference between holding Ethereum as a passive asset and deploying it as productive capital within the network.

Still, BitMine has a long-term goal of acquiring and staking 5% of Ethereum’s total supply.

To support that vision, the firm is developing a proprietary staking platform, the Made in America Validator Network (MAVAN), scheduled for deployment in early 2026.

Meanwhile, critics argue that consolidating such a large share of Ether under a single US-domiciled validator framework introduces centralization risks. They say the structure could undermine a network designed to be neutral and globally distributed.

With BitMine currently controlling about 3.36% of the total ETH supply, MAVAN could, in theory, face pressure to comply with the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions.

As a result, the firm could refuse to validate blocks containing transactions linked to sanctioned addresses.

Ethereum has had a turbulent 2025, with its price dropping by 13.92% within the last 365 days. The coin looks likely to set the most bearish price history if it closes on a negative note this month. However, Ethereum still has one chance and less than 96 hours to overturn it.

Ethereum's bearish outlook defies historical precedence

As highlighted by analyst Ted Pillows, if Ethereum closes December in the red, it will mean the coin underperformed for three quarters of the year. This bearish scenario mirrors the 2018 bear market for the coin.

The price performance of the asset has stunned many investors, particularly considering its uptick above $4,000 in August 2025. Many traders anticipated a further climb and a surge toward $5,000 if momentum were sustained.

However, Ethereum has declined and has not found stability above $3,000 since mid-December. The price kept fluctuating and left traders unable to predict its possible upward potential.

As of this writing, Ethereum changes hands at $2,929.60, which is a 1.13% decline in the last 24 hours. Its price has fluctuated between $2,894.95 and $2,983.69 as volume plunged within the period. Trading volume has dropped by 27.6% to $12.19 billion as a result of increased caution on the part of market participants.

Ethereum is facing this bearish outlook despite an expected 5.79% increase as per CryptoRank data. Over the past 10 years, Ethereum has maintained an average growth of over 5% in the month of December, with its highest in 2017, when it recorded a 70% increase.

So far in 2025, Ethereum has only managed to surpass its monthly average in May, July and August, when it registered 41.1%, 48.7% and 18.7%, respectively.

As the broader crypto market counts down to the end of 2025, Ethereum has less than 96 hours to change history.

Community expectant of bullish rebound in 2026

Ethereum’s woes this December might have been compounded by developments in the community. Notably, a wallet suspected to belong to Erik Voorhees, which has been dormant for nine years, was reactivated and dumped $13.42 million worth of ETH on the market.

Similarly, JAN3 CEO Samson Mow has also liquidated all Bitmine Ethereum holdings. Mow says they have decided to focus exclusively on Bitcoin, a move that suggests waning confidence in Ethereum.

Such bearish moves have a way of influencing market sentiment and the overall price outlook. Despite these developments, most community members are optimistic that 2026 could see a massive rally.

The price of Bitcoin has continued to struggle under the psychological $90,000 level during the Christmas season, reflecting the sluggish climate of the crypto market. While the premier cryptocurrency and the rest of the crypto market floundered, other asset classes enjoyed significant Christmas season rallies.

These recent performances suggest that the Bitcoin price might indeed be at the beginning of a bear market. According to the latest on-chain data, the price of BTC might be heading down to as low as $41,500 in the imminent period of extended downward movement.

BTC Price To Reach Next Bottom In October 2026

In a new post on the X platform, Alphractal founder and CEO Joao Wedson has put forward a target and timeline for the Bitcoin price in the coming bear season. According to the on-chain expert, the market leader’s price could form its next cycle bottom around early October 2026.

This projection is based on the Repetition Fractal Cycle chart, which portrays how market patterns and price movements repeat themselves on different scales. Using investor behavioral patterns, this chart helps to predict price tops and bottoms across different timeframes.

As shown in the chart above, a 4-year cycle is marked by various periods, starting with accumulation, then markup and distribution, before ending with the bear market. Wedson revealed that the most favorable time window for the next accumulation phase would likely be between October 6, 2026, and October 16, 2026, according to historical cycle symmetry.

The Alphractal founder added that the price target for Bitcoin by the start of this accumulation phase is between $41,500 and $45,000. In essence, the bear market phase, which the premier cryptocurrency seems to only be at the start of, could see the price of BTC fall as much as 50% from the current price point.

Wedson warned in his post:

If the price of Bitcoin goes to around $45,000 from the current point, it would represent a roughly 65% decline from the cycle top. This is significantly lower than the over 75% correction seen in the last bear market in 2022.

Bitcoin Price At A Glance

As of this writing, the price of BTC stands at around $87,550, reflecting no significant movement in the past 24 hours.

The Ethereum price is down by under 1% in the last 24 hours. At first glance, the chart looks quiet. Also, the minor price drop links to weak retail demand. But something else is happening under the surface.

New on-chain data shows whales adding again, while one key indicator flashes a rare trend shift, favoring one of the two groups mentioned in this piece.

Retail Slows Down While Whales Move In

Ethereum is approaching completion of an inverse head-and-shoulders pattern. This is a bullish structure that signals a trend reversal if the price breaks above $3,390. The problem appears before that breakout level. Retail momentum weakened this week.

Between December 18 and December 24, the price trended higher. Normally, that is a positive sign. The Money Flow Index (MFI), which tracks money entering and exiting an asset, did not follow. It made a lower low. That shows that possibly retail traders did not support the higher low with real buying.

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MFI now needs to move above 37 to form a higher high and show stronger demand.

While retail slowed down, the whales reacted the opposite way. Since December 26, wallets holding large amounts moved from 100.48 million ETH to 100.6 million ETH.

At the current price, this amounts to approximately $350 million injected over the past 24 hours. Whales do not buy for short-term flips. They usually buy because they think a setup exists.

This split defines the current situation. Retail hesitates. Whales enter. The next ETH price move depends on which group stays consistent.

One Indicator Tilts Toward The Whales

The Relative Strength Index (RSI), a momentum measuring indicator, supports whale positioning.

Between November 4 and December 25:

• Price made a lower low
• RSI made a higher low

This is a bullish divergence. It signals that selling pressure is losing strength, even though the price has not confirmed it yet.

This type of divergence supports reversal patterns such as the inverse head-and-shoulders. It does not guarantee the breakout. It gives the breakout attempt a higher chance of working if the price reaches the trigger zone. And that is exactly why Ethereum whales are adding now.

Ethereum Price Zones Decide The Next Leg

The Ethereum price must reclaim $3,050 first. This is a psychological barrier and short-term resistance.

If price clears it with strength, the next test is the neckline breakout zone at $3,390.

A breakout above $3,390 could activate an inverse head and shoulders target near $4,400. That comes from adding the height of the head to the breakout point.

On the downside, losing $2,800 weakens bullish momentum. If selling increases and whales stop adding, the Ethereum price can slide to $2,620. A drop below that level invalidates the bullish reversal structure.

The Shiba Inu community has been issued a crucial alert following Trust Wallet's security breach that saw $7 million in losses.

Multi-chain self-custody wallet Trust Wallet recently confirmed a security incident affecting a specific version of its web browser extension.

In this light, Shiba Inu-focused X account dedicated to uncovering scams and protecting the community, Susbarium Shibarium Trustwatch, issues an alert to the Shiba Inu community, warning of this critical risk.

Susbarium warns the Shiba Inu community about Trust Wallet extension v2.68, which has a security issue. Users utilizing this particular Trust Wallet extension are urged to disable it immediately and update to v2.69 from the official Chrome Web Store. However, mobile-only users and all other browser extension versions remain unimpacted.

The alert follows an earlier warning issued by Susbarium this December about scammers impersonating tech leads, mods and admins on Discord and Telegram, sending fake "wallet bug" warnings to trick users into connecting to malicious sites.

Important notice issued

Binance co-founder Changpeng "CZ" Zhao confirmed $7 million losses as a result of the recent Trust Wallet hack. Trust Wallet likewise confirmed this figure, adding that it will ensure all affected users are refunded.

In its recent update, Trust Wallet stated it was actively finalizing the process to refund the impacted users. It further said it will be in close contact with the victims on any progress and updates.

In this light, Trust Wallet urges its users never to interact with any messages that do not come from its official channels.

The wallet provider also issued an important notice to the crypto community, saying it has observed an increase in scams via Telegram ads, fake "compensation" forms, impersonated support accounts and DMs. It warns users to always verify links, never share their recovery phrase and use official Trust Wallet channels only.

Eowyn Chen, the CEO of Trust Wallet, a Binance ecosystem self-custody crypto wallet that had its Google Chrome extension compromised yesterday, shares the first details of its reimbursement road map. Meanwhile, it is still unknown how the attackers managed to inject malicious code into the plugin release.

Trust Wallet started reimbursement program, CEO Eowyn Chen says

All Trust Wallet users who lost their funds as a result of the Dec. 24-26 Google Chrome extension hack can claim a refund via a purpose-made domain. Such a statement was posted by Trust Wallet CEO Eowyn Chen on her X account.

As per the statement, affected users should only apply for the compensation via the official dashboard. The procedure will be conducted with the minimum volume of details to fill.

Users interested in reimbursement should specify their email addresses, compromised wallet addresses, the hacker's addresses and wallet-draining transaction hashes.

In the description field of the request, users should share the current reimbursement sum and the address of the new wallet for compensation. Chen recommended to create a new wallet specially for the reimbursement procedure.

$7 million Trust Wallet hack: What we know so far

Also, data about the residence of victims is collected for further criminal proceedings against the malefactors.

The Trust Wallet team stresses that users should stay aware about potential impersonation scams with fake compensation programs. The legitimate initiative does not ask for passwords, personal data and seed phrases.

As covered by U.Today previously, attackers injected malicious JavaScript code into the v2.68 release of the Google Chrome plugin of Trust Wallet. All users who logged in between the release (Dec. 24) and the attack's discovery (Dec. 26) have had their seed phrases intercepted by thieves.

It is highly likely that the attack became possible due to a leak of API keys involved in the process of publishing Trust Wallet upgrades in Google Chrome's plugin marketplace.